Football in West Bengal

Football in West Bengal
Indian crowd during the match between FC Bayern Munich and Mohun Bagan, May 27, 2008
Governing body	Indian Football Association (IFA) (formed in 1893)
Audience records
Single match	131,781 (1997 Federation Cup Semifinal: East Bengal F.C. VS Mohun Bagan A.C. at Salt Lake Stadium, 1997)

Association football is two most-popular sports in West Bengal, the others being Cricket. East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan are the heart of West Bengal football. The rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, originating from the Calcutta Football League as the Kolkata derby, is one of the fiercest in the world and considered among the flagship events in the Indian footballing calendar. West Bengal is known to be the Mecca of Indian football, with the two most supported teams in the country being based within the city – Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

The IFA had organised many historical tournaments like the Trades Cup, the Gladstone Cup, the Cooch Behar Cup and the coveted IFA Shield, prior to the incorporation of Calcutta Football League in 1898. The Trades Cup is the oldest tournament in Kolkata, being instituted in 1889.

State teams

State teams of West Bengal
Football (Men's)	Football (Women's)

The following list includes the performance of West Bengal's state teams at major competitions.

Men's team

Main article: West Bengal football team

Tournament	Best performance
Santosh Trophy	Champions (1941–42, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83 (Shared with Goa), 1986–87, 1988–89, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2016–17)
National Games	Gold (1994, 2011, 2022)
B.C. Roy Trophy	Champions (1961–62, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1989–90, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2003–04, 2024–25)
Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy	Champions (1965–66, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2015–16)
M. Dutta Ray Trophy	Champions (1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005)

Women's team

Main article: West Bengal women's football team

Tournament	Best performance
Senior Women's National Football Championship	Champions (1991–92, 1996–97)
National Games	Silver (1999, 2002)
Junior Girl's National Football Championship	Champions (2011–12)
Sub–Junior Girl's National Football Championship	Champions (2010–11)

Affiliated district associations

All 23 district of West Bengal are affiliated with the Indian Football Association.

No.	Association	District	President
1	Alipurduar District Football Association	Alipurduar
2	Bankura District Football Association	Bankura
3	Paschim Bardhaman District Football Association	Paschim Bardhaman
4	Purba Bardhaman District Football Association	Purba Bardhaman
5	Birbhum District Football Association	Birbhum
6	Cooch Behar District Football Association	Cooch Behar
7	Darjeeling District Football Association	Darjeeling
8	Dakshin Dinajpur District Football Association	Dakshin Dinajpur
9	Hooghly District Football Association	Hooghly
10	Howrah District Football Association	Howrah
11	Jalpaiguri District Football Association	Jalpaiguri
12	Jhargram District Football Association	Jhargram
13	Kolkata District Football Association	Kolkata
14	Kalimpong District Football Association	Kalimpong
15	Malda District Football Association	Malda
16	Paschim Medinipur District Football Association	Paschim Medinipur
17	Purba Medinipur District Football Association	Purba Medinipur
18	Murshidabad District Football Association	Murshidabad
19	Nadia District Football Association	Nadia
20	North 24 Parganas District Football Association	North 24 Parganas
21	South 24 Parganas Football Association	South 24 Parganas
22	Purulia District Football Association	Purulia
23	Uttar Dinajpur District Football Association	Uttar Dinajpur

Organisation of football in West Bengal

Men's

• Calcutta Football League
• IFA Shield
• Trades Cup
• Uttarbanga Cup
• Jayanta Chatterjee Inter District Football Tournament
• IFA Futsal Championship

Women's

• Calcutta Women's Football League
• Women's IFA Shield

Youth

• CFL 5th Division Group B
• IFA Nursery League

Evolution of the football system

Years		1889–1893	1893	1893–1993	1993–2019	2019–2021	2021–2023	2023–present
Level
Men's
State leagues	1	None	Formation of Indian Football Association (IFA)	CFL Premier Division
	2			None		CFL 1st Division
	3			None				CFL 2nd Division
	4							CFL 3rd Division
	5							CFL 4th Division
	6							CFL 5th Division Group A
	7							CFL 5th Division Group B
Cup competitions		Trades Cup				Discontinued
				IFA Shield			Not continued
Women's
State leagues	1			None	Kanyashree Cup Premier Division A
	2			None				Kanyashree Cup Premier Division B
Cup competitions				None				Women's IFA Shield

Notable footballers visits

Because it is often called India's football capital, many international footballing personalities have visited Kolkata, West Bengal. In 1977, Mohun Bagan played a friendly match against the famous North American Soccer League club New York Cosmos, which featured Pelé. The match, which took place at Eden Gardens, had an attendance of 80,000. The match ended 2–2. Others who have visited Kolkata are Argentinean footballing legend Diego Maradona and current star Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi made his captaincy debut for his national side in Kolkata's, West Bengal Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on 2 September 2011 against Venezuela. German legends, including Franz Beckenbauer and Oliver Kahn, have also visited. The best goalkeeper in football history, Russian Lev Yashin, visited in 1955 and 1973. English World Cup–winning legend Bobby Moore was the chief guest during the 1984 Nehru Cup. Emeka Ezuego, the Nigerian World Cup player, played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting. Majid Bishkar, the Iranian World Cup player, played for East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting from 1980 to 1986. Cameroon footballing legend Roger Milla played for Diamond Club in some exhibition matches in the Centenary Celebration of Mohun Bagan. Uruguay football captain Diego Forlan visited Kolkata in 2010. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge visited in 2010. Julian Caminho visited Kolkata, West Bengal twice—first in 1988 to play for East Bengal and again in 2011. MacDonald Mukansi played for East Bengal in 2007.

Others who have also visited are Terry Paine, Carlos Alberto Torres, Enzo Francescoli, Valencia Ramos, Jorge Burruchaga, Ricardo Gareca, László Kiss, Nicky Butt, Włodzimierz Smolarek, Andrzej Buncol, Eusébio, Ronald Koeman, Paul Breitner, and Swansea City's Neil Taylor.

In July 2023, Argentine World Cup and World Cup Golden Gloves winner Emiliano Martinez also visited the city of Joy, courtesy to Satadru Dutta's initiative. He was grandly welcomed by the citizens and Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

Footballers from West Bengal

The state of West Bengal has contributed many legends to Indian football, such as:

• Chuni Goswami, first Padma Shri awardee, awarded best striker of Asia in 1962.
• Gostho Pal, footballer, who was member of the Mohun Bagan team that won the IFA shield against a British team in the pre-independence period.
• Krishanu Dey, footballer, known as the "Indian Maradona".
• Mohammed Salim, first player from the Indian subcontinent to play overseas, in the year 1936 for the Scottish Club Celtic FC.
• Pradip Kumar Banerjee, named Indian Footballer of the 20th century by, and awardee of the FIFA Order of Merit.
• Shailen Manna, footballer, the only Asian Footballer ever to be named among the 10 best Captains in the world by the English FA in 1953.
• Subrata Paul, member of Indian team, first Indian goalkeeper to play professionally for a foreign club in 1st division (Danish Superliga).
• Sudip Chatterjee, footballer, considered among the finest in Indian football, declared AIFF player of the decade in 1994.

International players origin

• Robin Dutt, former manager of Bundesliga club, Werder Bremen.
• Neil Taylor, Welsh footballer of half-Bengali origin.

Arjuna award winners

• P. K. Banerjee
• Chuni Goswami
• Arun Lal Ghosh
• Prasun Banerjee
• Sudhir Karmakar
• Shanti Mullick
• Subrata Bhattacharya
• Deepak Kumar Mondal
• Subrata Pal

See also

• History of Indian football
• Football in Kolkata

Further reading

• Kapadia, Novy (2017). Barefoot to Boots: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0-143-42641-7.
• Martinez, Dolores; Mukharjiim, Projit B (2009). Football: From England to the World: The Many Lives of Indian Football. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-88353-6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
• Dutta, P. L., Memoir of 'Father of Indian Football' Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir)
• Ghosh, Saurindra Kumar. Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940 (Calcutta: N. P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat).
• "Triumphs and Disasters: The Story of Indian Football, 1889—2000" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
• D'Mello, Anthony (1959). Portrait Of Indian Sport. P R Macmillan Limited, London.
• Kumar Shil, Amrita (15 May 2022). "Football Culture in Princely State of Cooch Behar" (PDF). JHSR Journal of Historical Study and Search. 2. ISSN 2583-0198. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
• Das, Raktim (4 April 2022). "কলকাতার মোহামেডানের সঙ্গে গাঁটছড়া বাঁধছে ঢাকার মোহামেডান" [Mohammedan of Dhaka is tying knot with Mohammedan of Kolkata]. banglatribune.com (in Bengali). Kolkata. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
• Guha, Chandak (5 September 2019). "ইংরেজরাও ভয় পেত বাংলার প্রথম কিংবদন্তি ফুটবল কোচকে" [The Englishmen too feared Bengal's legendary first football coach]. bongodorshon.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Bongodorshon Information Desk. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2022.